There are myriad reasons that business social media initiatives fail. If your company’s social media program is not working, perhaps it is for one of these reasons:
- You’re pushing marketing information at them. News flash: Your prospects already have all the marketing information they need or want. In fact, as the classic book “Guerrilla Marketing” (not to be confused with “Gorilla Marketing”) reminds us, “Marketing is not about you; it’s about them”. This is even truer in social media where they must decide to Like, Follow, or Subscribe to us. Make it about them in a way that draws them into a relationship with you and both parties benefit.
- You’re not being a real person. Social media is about people connecting with people. Show some personality! Engage in a dialog. Be authentic. When we provide prospects with the opportunity to get to know the people that are the company, they’ll jump at the chance. Remember that in sales, people buy from people.
- Customers don’t need to have a continuing relationship with your business. If you’re in real estate, pest control, or automobiles (as in car dealers), prospects engage only when they need you. The rest of the time they’ve got other issues to attend to. In this case, use search.twitter.com to find people in your area tweeting about new homes, bed bugs, or new cars. There are more than two hundred million tweets per day. Listening in is like having ESP – you’ll know exactly what they’re thinking. In response (via @username in Twitter), provide information that is valuable without being directly “salesy”.
- You’re using the wrong platform. Facebook is perfect for B2C (business-to-consumer). It’s often worthless for B2B (business-to-business). If you sell to other business, consider investing in LinkedIn (to network), Ning (to create a knowledge-base/community), or WordPress (to write a blog). And when you do, be sure to use the keywords that people use when they’re looking for what you do.
- You’re adding to the noise and information overload. Instead, figure out how to provide something of value to your customers. If you run a chauffeur / taxi service, have your drivers tweet about traffic conditions (when they’re not driving, please). People will follow them to get valuable on-the-ground traffic updates and your company will always be top of mind. What can you provide of value that will bring value back to you?
- Customers don’t know about your social initiative. It may be superb but if they’ve never seen it, well… You need an awareness plan. Highlight it on your business card, in your email signature, on your homepage, in your email marketing, and on your front door.
- You’re not engaging when they are. Social media is a dialog and you have to do your part. This in not a set-it-and-forget-it activity. Ask them to share their experiences. Run a survey. Request feedback. Offer an incentive to participate. And when they do, pick up the conversation on your end.
- You’ve not integrated social media into your existing sales, marketing, recruiting, and product management processes. In the end, social media is not a new and separate category. Rather, it represents a set of tools that are a little bit more efficient or effective for some of your communications challenges (hint: we’re using too much email). Figure out where social media represents a process improvement for your organization, even if only for internal communication.
Social media is generating impressive return on investment (ROI) for those companies that get it right. If your initiatives are stuck in low gear, it’s time to retool (not abandon) the program. All of these challenges are addressable. Figure out where the problem is and fix it. Otherwise, you’re just wasting your resources.